Djimon Hounsou was born in Cotonou, Benin, West Africa, to Albertine and Pierre Hounsou, a cook. He moved to Lyon, France, when he was 13. Hounsou has graced the catwalks of Paris and London as a popular male model. He has since left his modeling career and has worked on _Gladiator .
Name pronounced Jie-mon Hahn-soo.
Came to Paris from Benin at the age of 13, couldnt find a job and ended as a vagrant, sleeping under bridges and rummaging in trash cans for food. Things changed for the better when fashion designer Thierry Mugler discovered him and made him a fashion model.
Was in Janet Jackson video "Love Will Never Do Without You" .
On "ER" , he played Mobalage Ikabo, a refugee from Nigeria. His actual homeland of Benin shares its largest border with Nigeria.
Fourth male African to receive an Oscar-nomination for acting. The other three were Basil Rathbone , Cecil Kellaway and Omar Sharif. All four men were nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Learned English by watching television.
His ex-fiance was Kimora Lee Simmons. They were in a relationship from 2007-2012.
Has a son, Kenzo Lee Hounsou, born May 30, 2009. Mother is ex-fiance Kimora Lee Simmons.
School bored me. Being educated and being intelligent are two different,things. I thought I was smart enough. And I wanted to be an,entertainer. I stopped going to school as a way of saying I was mature,a way of saying I was going to choose who I was going to become.
--Daily News, December 3, 1997.
America has this understanding of Africans that plays like National,Geographic: a bunch of Negroes with loincloths running around the plain,fields of Africa chasing gazelles. Meanwhile, we have Africans and,African-Americans, contemporary men, with great stories, great,integrity, great heroes and nobody wants to see or hear about those,African heroes and those African-American heroes. One day, I will be in,a position to play those great human beings on-screen.
The gym can serve as an excellent place where kids and young men and,women can really empty their issues right on the floor.
Africa is my continent. It is where I opened my eyes.
Funny enough, every role that I have had, I try to tone down my accent,or speak with better diction.
Africa is a continent that provides so much for the existence of the,rest of the world. We go around the world and cultivate so many things.
I was just a very torn child, very wounded in so many areas, with no,family support. I happened to the be the fifth child of my family. So,everybody was already grown and had left home already.
Some of the reason why you have so many divorces is that we tend to get,married, most of the time, not for ourselves, but for others, or for,how it looks to others.
I like stories that have a social impact and social attributes to them.
If anything, Calvin Klein is the iconic company in terms of fashion.
They do have iconic images for their campaigns.
Even while modeling, I was still practicing kung fu and boxing as,sports.
I happened to the be the fifth child of my family, so everybody was,already grown and had left home already.
I hope more people will ask diamond companies to continue changing the,way they do business in Africa.
My passion is more about bringing the stories out from the African,continent mixed with the West.
The rocky time came right after I left school. I spent a lot of time at,night navigating the streets of Paris trying to find something to eat.
